Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the EU has prevented the use of proceeds from the sale of Chelsea football club to support victims of the war in Ukraine and its wider consequences; and if so, what assessment they have made of the legal basis for the EU to exercise a veto over the use of UK-based assets.

No, the EU has not prevented the use of proceeds. An independent charitable foundation is being established to manage the proceeds from the sale. Once it has been established, a licence from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation will be required to move the proceeds to the foundation. As set out in the unilateral declaration on 30 May 2022, the government is committed to only issuing a licence which ensures that the proceeds are used for exclusively humanitarian purposes in Ukraine, and to working closely with the Portuguese Government and the European Commission on this.